


In My Head

by MundaneSalad



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Fix-It, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-10-05 16:23:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10312280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MundaneSalad/pseuds/MundaneSalad
Summary: A reworking of the end of the quest "Dangerous Minds".





	

_It was almost like a scene from a comic book.  The Backup stood silhouetted in the doorway.  She looked considerably more animated than the last time I saw her.  You could say that the giveaway was a toss up between being the only living human ever to break into Fort Hagen and the blood stained vault suit just barely visible beneath the oily black trench coat._

_No, it was the Backup’s face.  Sheer anger and determination that seemed to get more intense with every step closer.  Nothing quite like the loss of a family.  I couldn’t blame her, heck, I almost feel sorry for her._

_As dumb as they are trigger happy, the Gen 2’s in the room took a step back and stood their ground, save for the ratty one who accompanied her. The rouge synth produced a pistol from his jacket, clearly pilfered from one of my own as a testament of rebellion.  The Backup demanded answers.  I gave her the gist: yes, The Institute has her son.  She didn’t believe me when I told her that I had no idea where he is.  It’s clear that she’ll somehow she’ll hunt down the Institute and blast a hole into it with sheer willpower, but she’s not gonna like what she finds.  I would do the same._

_That’s why I can’t let her._  

_“In a hundred years, when I finally die,” she smirked slightly as she cocked her gun, “I only hope I go to hell so I can kill you all over again, you piece of shit.”_

_The remaining synths sprang to life as anything that was left of this world was shredded by blinding blue lights._

 

Lynn suddenly snapped back into place. The memory lounger was a vice and she was about to be squeezed to death. Everything felt heavy and she was breathing in pins and needles. Without even thinking, her limbs kicked and clawed at the glass dome of the chair. She was no longer the bounty hunter Conrad Kellogg in Fort Hagan, she was Lynn Brockway, a temporally displaced lawyer searching for her son in a wrecked Boston but finding herself in the basement of the Memory Den.

Two figures stood silhouetted against the lounger’s frosted glass dome. They belonged to local journalist Piper Wright and the Memory Den’s medical expert, Doctor Amari.

“Lynn? Lynn can you hear me?” The doctor pleaded from out of sight. Lynn could barely see anything past the screen of her—no wait— _Kellogg’s_ life.  Her voice was lumped in her throat and the most she could let out was a harsh cough. She needed air _NOW_. The lid cracked an inch before Lynn found herself tumbling to the floor of Amari’s office and mentally spilling out into a puddle. Piper ran over to help her up.

“Blue are you alright?” She said, a comforting voice after witnessing once again all that separated Lynn from her old life. Lynn took a deep breath and shakily stood up.

“I can’t believe…” she wheezed and gave a shaky smile, “...teleportation! He’s alive!” Everything felt warm and safe again, but a dreadful pit opened up in her heart.  She still had a chance to find her son, however he was being guarded by the most mysterious and dangerous entity in the Commonwealth. Lynn can't handle it alone, heck, she could barely handle existing in that moment. She took a step toward the door but collapsed. Doctor Amari gestured to a sofa nearby.

“You aren't going to want to move around so much right now. In order to fully explore the memories within Kellogg’s hippocampus, I had to inject you with some heavy sedatives,” the doctor ordered. “Everything will feel out of place for a bit, but it shouldn't hurt very much.  Mr. Valentine is waiting upstairs. You should take a rest, Lynn.”  

Piper half led, half dragged the sole survivor to the couch. Lynn, body too sluggish to move but too awake to sleep, stared up at the ceiling of the office. Doctor Amari’s office was a somewhat spacious room in the basement of the Memory Den, which happens to hold the title of the cleanest place in Goodneighbor. It had all the amenities a doctor's office would presumably have, such as stimpaks, bandages, a sink, rubber gloves, and whatnot.

Out of place, however, was a pair of memory loungers in the middle of the room. While she had been in one, Diamond City Detective Nick Valentine had occupied the other during her trance, serving as a way of processing the bounty hunter’s memories for viewing.

For now, Lynn was lying on the couch, Piper sitting beside her, doodling something in a note book.

Doctor Amari reassured the two that she’d be right back and left the room.

Lynn’s mind was over capacity in its analysis and mental replaying of the last few moments of Kellogg’s life.

Kellogg and company broke into Vault 111, decided Shaun was ripe for experimentation, killed her husband and everyone else she’s ever known, but decided that she was just marginally redeemable enough to keep alive.

But Kellogg stole more than just Shaun.

He had Shaun—had her baby—for ten whole years doing God knows what with him.

Lynn missed Shaun’s first word, his first steps, his first day of school. Learning what subjects he loves and teaching him to ride a bike and catching bugs and being a family. Shaun won't even remember her. She and her son are simply strangers with matching genes.

Kellogg stole everything from her.

Lynn actively tried to slow down but she was simply too anxious to process it all. She spent a long time staring into the ceiling fan before Piper said anything.

“So the bastard was in Diamond City the whole time and I couldn't sniff him out? I'm sorry I couldn't catch Shaun earlier,” she blamed herself half heartedly. Lynn snapped out of her fan-blade-induced trance. Piper was scribbling in her steno pad, crossing off clues and leads, taking a note of Kellogg’s residence and a possible story there. But the whole time, she was sniffling.

While Piper and Amari weren't witnessing it firsthand, they were still able to see what was going on in Kellogg’s head from the monitor in the waiting room. They’d seen everything. Both of them were right there with her.

“Imagine my own headline: _Local Snoop Too Busy Digging Through Mayor’s Garbage to Notice a Kidnapping!_ ” There was a slight crack in her throat. She couldn’t imagine losing her sister, Nat.  Nat was all the family Piper had left in the Commonwealth, just as how Shaun was the only family Lynn had left from her time.  She felt herself tear up, but the reporter smothered it as best she could.

Lynn reached out and squeezed Piper’s hand.

“You did nothing wrong, Piper,” she said, “what matters is that my son still out there and that I will do everything I can to save him.”

“That’s a noble way of thinking, Blue. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you find Shaun.”

“I would be grateful for you to be there with me. Also, we should probably check on Nick before he rusts to death.”

 

* * *

 

Nick Valentine had his own steno pad he was writing in. Making connections, taking notes of possible locations the Institute would be, secretly doodling in the margins. Professional detective work. He had been alone in the waiting room, save for the overstuffed sofa he’s been lying on while Piper comforted the sole survivor downstairs in the doctor’s office. He heard some footsteps coming up from creaky wooden stairs.

“Well, I know you and Piper shop at the same office supply store,” Lynn smirked. The detective sat up and grinned.

“Hey, she’s awake!  How was the journey to the center of the jackass? Heard from the doc that the Institute’s been using teleportation to cover their tracks.”

“It was…painful. I hope I never have to see Nate…like that ever again,” Lynn stopped, “you didn't see Kellogg’s memories, too? I would have figured so…” she trailed off.

“No, I was acting less as a server to your client and more of the physical components of the computer.  I was out the whole time.”  He sighed. “Shame, too. Figured seeing the inside of the Institute might surface some old memories on where to find it.”

“Jog the cogs, you mean!” Piper quipped. This shook a chuckle from Doctor Amari, who had just entered the waiting room. She looked Lynn up and down but seemed to be focusing on Nick.

“Take it easy, you too Mr. Valentine. While it's most likely that certain neurons associated with memory will refire oddly after this procedure,” she paused, “to be honest, I’m not sure exactly what will happen since I’ve never had a memory exploration quite like this.”  

“I’ll make sure to take a note of anything that seems off, doctor. Thanks again,” replied Lynn.

“It's fine, in fact, it's amazing that the exploration was possible, using a synth brain to process cybernetic memories for viewing by organic beings. This could be groundbreaking for the Memory Den and my work,” Doctor Amari glanced at her watch and her expression changed from enthralled to a professional neutral.

“Unfortunately, right now I have to leave to fill some prescriptions and prepare for my next procedure. Take care.” The doctor promptly left the room, leaving Piper, Lynn, and Nick on the sofa. The three stood in silence for a few moments before the journalist decided it was a good time for a snack.

“Hey Blue, want a soda? Usually makes me feel better.”

“Sure, Piper,” said Lynn. She never really liked Nuka-Cola before the bombs fell, but there’s something endearing about 200-year-old flat soda. Piper stood to the side to rummage through her bag, presumably to find a bottle opener. Lynn looked back at Nick. She decided it was best to get down to business as soon as possible.

“What kind of leads do we have now? I figured that the Institute must be somewhere underneath the Commonwealth Institute of Technology, considering the name’s the-”

“You. The vault dweller,” a voice dark and all too real interrupted her. A pit as deep as the ocean opened up in Lynn’s stomach. No. Not this again. This can't be happening.

“I hope you got what you were looking for inside my head.” She looked down and saw only Nick, but she may as well have been staring down Kellogg once again. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Nick’s mouth moved but his voice wasn't the one coming out.

“I was right. I should have killed you when you were on ice.”

Suddenly, Lynn grabbed the bastard by the lapels of his jacket and slammed him into the wall. She didn't even realize what she had done until she found herself screaming.

“TELL ME WHERE THE _FUCK_ THE INSTITUTE IS, YOU _SACK OF SHIT!_ ”

“Lynn! What are you doing?!” Piper sprang between the sole survivor and the synth, trying to pry the woman off of him. She freed Nick, who took a few steps back from his assailant. Lynn was wide eyed and breathless, unable to form sentences.

“Kellogg did something—he’s in Nick! He was just talking! He’s still—he was talking! Through Nick!” Lynn couldn't articulate what she meant. She simply pointed at the detective.

“What did you say to me?” She paused after every word.

“I said that there will probably be a trail to the Institute at the CIT ruins, believe me,” repeated Nick. Lynn was still shaken. Why was Kellogg here?

“But what about the after effects! Of neurons refiring! There could be still traces of Kellogg in his brain!”

Piper cautiously approached Lynn and squeezed her hand.

“I…I didn't hear Kellogg speak. I heard Nick agree with your idea and then you tackled him,” admitted Piper.

“Lynn, when the doc was talking about this neuron business,” started Nick, concerned but defensive, “she was talking it affecting about _you_ and not me, because I don't _have_ any neurons!”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe I'll make more of these.


End file.
